Self-ejecting backstop for archery range



May 5, 1970 A. J. GRETZKY 3,510,133

SELF-EJECTING BACKSTOP FOR ARCHERY RANGE Original Filed Feb. 15, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 5, 1970 A. J. GRETZKY 3,510,133

SELF-EJECTING BACKSI'OP FOR ARCHERY RANGE Original Filed Feb. 15, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 5, 1970 3,510,133 SELF-EJECTING BACKSTOP FOR ARCHERY RANGE Anthony J. Gretzky, Muskegon, Mich., assignor to Brunswick Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Original application Feb. 15, 1965, Ser. No. 432,787, now Patent No. 3,401,937, dated Sept. 17, 1968. Divided and, this application Mar. 21, 1968, Ser. No. 715,106

Int. Cl. F41j 3/100 U.S. Cl. 273103 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A self-ejecting backstop for use in automated archery ranges including a pair of spaced grids for loosely holding an arrow, an arrow stopping plate spaced behind the grids for stopping arrows penetrating the grids and means for moving the stopping plate toward the grids to impart motion to arrows stopped by the plate and held by the grids to eject the same from the grids whereby the arrows will fall to a collection point for subsequent return to an archer.

CROSS REFERENCE TO OTHER APPLICATION This application is a divisional application of the commonly assigned, copending application of Rockwood et al., Ser. No. 432,787, filed Feb. 15, 1965, and entitled Archery Range, now Pat. 3,401,937, granted Sept. 17, 1968.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Heretofore, the sport of archery has been practiced principally by archers firing a designated number of arrows at a target having a backstop in the form of straw butts or the like and after the arrows have been shot, the arrows are retrieved, and the process repeated. This process has proved to be time-consuming where two or more targets are being used simultaneously in that, before the shot arrows may be retrieved, for his own safety, the archer must wait until all other archers have completed their firing before retrieving the shot arrows.

In the above-identified application of Rockwood et al., there is disclosed a fully automated archery range which, includes among its features, a means for returning arrows shot by an archer to a firing line automatically thereby saving the time previously required for the retrieval of shot arrows. The use of an automated range takes much of the danger and trudgery out of archery. Furthermore, such a range is particularly well suited for use by competitive teams in an archery league because of the time-saving nature present because of the automation thereof.

In order to automate the return of shot arrows, it is necessary that some sort of arrow return means be provided. And in order that shot arrows be provided to the arrow return system, a backstop system other than the conventional straw butts is required so that arrows stopped by the backstop system are automatically provided to the arrow return system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the principal object of the invention to provide a new and improved arrow backstop system that is especially adapted for use in automated archery ranges. More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide an arrow backstop system that will stop arrows penetrating a target, hold the same for a predetermined time, and thereafter eject the same for collection and return to an archer at a firing line.

Another object is the provision of a self-ejecting backstop for an archery range including penetrable means for receiving and holding an arrow fired thereafter, stopping means associated with the penetrable means for stopping the arrows penetrating the same so that the arrows will be held by the penetrable means, and means for ejecting arrows held by the penetrable means.

Still another object is the provision of a backstop such as that set forth in the preceding paragraph wherein the penetrable means are constructed in the range to loosely hold an arrow under the influence of gravity and the ejecting means include the means for driving the stopping means toward the penetrable means to impart motion to arrows held by the latter to cause the same to slide out of the penetrable means and thereby be ejected from the backstop system.

A still further object is the provision of a self-ejecting backstop such as that set forth above wherein the penetrable means comprise a pair of spaced grids.

Another object is the provision of a self-ejecting backstop such as that set forth above wherein the stopping means comprises a solid member mounting for reciprocable movement toward the penetrable means and the ejecting means includes a rotary motor connected to the solid member by means of a rotary motion to reciprocating motion converting linkage.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a self-ejecting backstop for receiving and holding arrows that will not damage the arrows during the ejection process including means for loosely holding the arrows after they have been brought to rest by the backstop such that they may be visually observed by an archer, and actuating means for moving the backstop toward the holding means for ejecting the arrows into a subjacent collector which, in turn, feeds the arrows to arrow return means.

Other objects of the invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section through a preferred form of an automated archery range with which the invention may be used taken approximately along the line 1-1 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 2 is a transverse section of a portion of the automated range illustrated in FIG. 1 taken approximately along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a transverse section of a portion of the automated range illustrated in FIG. 1 taken approximately along the line 3-3 therein;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of one embodiment of the self-ejecting backstop forming the invention together with other parts of the automated archery range; and

FIG. 5 is a front elevation of the backstop and other portions of the automated range.

3 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRE EMBODIMENT As shown schematically in FIG. 1, an automated archery range with which the invention may be used includes a shooting station or firing line manned by archer 22 firing arrows 24 at a target 26 spaced therefrom. Behind the target 26 is a self-ejecting backstop mechanism made according to the invention and generally designated as 28. Below the target 26 and the backstop mechanism 28, is a collector 29 formed of a plate sloping forwardly and to one side as seen in FIG. 2. An arrow return mechanism is in close proximity to the collector 29 and comprises a pair of narrowly spaced belts 30a, 30b which feed to a conveyor 32 which in turn leads to an upwardly inclined pair of narrowly spaced belts 34a, 34b. The inclined belts 34a, 34b empty into a quiver, generally designated 36, adjacent the archer 22. A target monitor 38 is placed near the archer 22 for indicating arrow hits on the target 26.

The target 26 may comprise the usual penetrable target sheets, having the desired target markings thereon, placed on the forward grid 50 of the backstop mechanism 28. Preferably, however, the target 26 is formed of a facing of a self-healing nature as is well known in the art. The invention contemplates the use of a projector 27 for projecting suitable target markings onto the screen facing. In this way the projector 27 may be programed with a number of different target markings which may be remotely selected for projection on the target by the archer.

The self-ejecting backstop mechanism 28 of the invention is illustrated in greater detail in FIG. 4. It comprises a pair of spaced grids 50, backed by a movable plate 52 formed of any material sufficiently hard and thick to preclude penetration by the fired arrow and, yet able to absorb the kinetic energy of the arrow. On the upper and lower extremities of the plate 52 are mounted carriages 62 having wheels 64 on tracks 66. The carriages 62, wheels 64 and tracks 66 serve to movably mount the plate 52 for movement toward and away from the grids 50. The mechanism for moving the plate 52 toward and away from the grids 50 comprises a member 54 attached to the back of the plate 52 and having therein an elongated slot 56. An eccentric pin 58 is received in the slot 56 and is rotated by a conventional one revolution motor 60. Actuation of the one revolution motor 60 will result in the plate 52 reciprocating toward and away from the grids 50. The apertures in the grids preferably comprise a high percentage of the total area of the grids so as to minimize the possibility of a direct hit of the solid portions of the grid by an arrow causing the arrow to bounce straight back towards the archer.

The invention also contemplates that the distance between the plate 52 in its away position and the forwardmost grid 50 or the target 26 is less than the distance between the tip of an arrow and the beginning of the fletching. When such spacing is used, the fletching of the arrow never comes in contact with portions of the grid 50, thus precluding damage to the fletching. Finally, the size of the apertures in the grids 50 are such as to loosely receive an arrow and to retain the arrow therein substantially only under the influence of gravity. Thus, a fired arrow, will lodge loosely in the apertures of the grids 50 after being brought to a halt by its contact with the plate 52.

At some predetermined time the one revolution motor 60 is actuated causing the plate 52 to move toward the grids 50. This causes the arrows to be slidably ejected from the grids 50. It will be appreciated that through suitable means, such as a transducer and a stepping switch, the backstop can be programed to eject arrows after any predetermined number have been halted thereby. As stated previously, the target face and the forwardmost grid 50 are intended to be substantially coextensive. Thus, it will be seen that use of a backstop according to the invention results in the arrows partially protruding from the target where they may be observed by the archer until such time as plate 52 is actuated and the arrows are automatically ejected. Accordingly, this feature of the invention provides retention for observation purposes as well as for automatic ejection.

When discharged from the grids 50, the arrows fall downwardly onto the inclined collector 29. A first pair of narrowly spaced belts 30a, 30b (see FIGS. 1 and 2) are mounted for movement with their upper runs adjacent the lower edge of the collector 29. The spacing between the upper runs of the belts 30a, 30b is sufliciently wide such that the shaft of an arrow will pass therebetween but sufliciently narrow such that the arrow fletching will not pass between the upper runs. Additionally, the lower runs of the belts 30a, 30b are horizontally displaced away from the space between the upper runs such that the spacing between the lower runs is significantly greater than the space between the upper runs. This arrangement is extremely desirable for reasons that will be seen hereafter. The belts 30a, 30b are driven in the same direction and at the same speed by a motor and transmission arrangement, shown generally at 30c of suitable construction. Deflectors 31 (see FIG. 2) are arranged along the lower edge of the collectors 29 and the upper runs of the belts 30a, 30b and are spaced upwardly therefrom such that an arrow must be substantially in contact along its entire length with the collectors 29 to pass to the belts 30a, 30b.

Once on the collectors 29, the arrows slide or roll down the incline to the lower edge thereof. The deflectors 31 orient the rolling or sliding arrows such that they are parallel to the upper runs of the belts 30a, 30b. The arrows continue to slide or roll until they contact and rest upon the upper runs of the belts 30a, 30b. At this point the shaft of the arrow drops between the belts 30a, 30b resulting in the arrow being suspended substantially vertically with its fletching resting on the upper runs of the belts 30a, 30b. Since, the lower runs of the belts 30a, 3012, which are moving in an opposite direction from the upper runs, are outwardly displaced from the upper runs, there is no interference between the arrows and the lower runs that would result in injury to the arrows.

Below the end of the run of the belts 30a, 30b is a conveyor 32 of the belt type which returns ejected arrows to the shooting station or firing line 20. Preferably the conveyor 32 is operated by a suitable motor and transmission 32a at a higher speed than the belts 30a, 30b such that an arrow hanging vertically from the belts 30a, 30b will engage the conveyor 32 with its point which will then be drawn forwardly of the fletching as seen in FIG. 1. When the belts 30a, 30b discharge the fletched end of the arrow, it will fall on the conveyor 32 behind the point of the arrow. Thus the arrow will be moved in a direction similar to its normal flight whereby the fletching will not be damaged by moving contact with the Walls surrounding the conveyor 32. Deflectors 33 (see FIG. 2) are placed on either side of the conveyor 32 to maintain proper alignment of the arrow on the conveyor 32.

Below the end of the run of the conveyor 32 as seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, is a lowermost end of the run of an inclined pair of narrowly spaced belts 34a, 34b which are driven in the same upwardly direction and at the same speed by a motor and transmission 340. With the exception of the upward inclination of the belts 34a, 34b, the relationship of upper and lower run spacing and displacement is substantially identical to that between belts 30a, 30b, and accordingly, further description is believed unnecessary. When the belts 34a, 34b are in operation, an arrow being carried by the conveyor 32, because of the alignment function of deflectors 33, will be projected between the belts 34a, 34b until its fletching comes in contact with the upper runs of the belts 34a, 34b. The belts 34a, 34b will then carry the arrow by its fletching and in a substantially vertical position forwardly and upwardly to the upper end of the run of the belts 34a, 34b. The arrow is then dropped from the belts 34a, 34b into a quiver generally designated 36 placed adjacent the firing line 20.

The quiver 36 (see FIG. 1) comprises a bottom wall 150 placed a distance greater than the length of an arrow directly below the upper end of the inclined belts 34a, 34b and having an upwardly projecting retaining flange 152. Partially surrounding the bottom 150- is a wall 154 which is inclined toward the archer. The combination of the inclined belts 34a, 34b and the quiver 36 is arranged to preclude arrows dropping from the belts 34a, 34b to the quiver 36 from falling backwardly over the upwardly projecting retaining flange 152 into the return mechanism and fouling the latter. Because of the motion of the arrow imparted in the direction of the inclined wall 154 by the inclined belts 34a, 34!), the inertia of the arrow will cause it to hit the inclined wall 154 where it will come to rest. Thus, when arrows 24 are delivered upwardly by the belts 34a, 34b they fall therefrom and strike the bottom 150 of the quiver and come to rest leaning against the bottom 150, the retaining flange 152 and the wall 154 in close proximity to the access opening 156, whereby the archer may simply pick up additional arrows 24 as he requires them.

Placed about the arrow flight path, as a safety feature, is a deflector 40. Depending on the shape of the target 26, the walls of the deflector 40 may take the shape of a truncated pyramid as shown in FIG. 1, or the frustum of a cone. Associated with the deflector Walls 40 is a contact transducer 42 or a microphone of suflicient sensitivity to determine when the deflector walls 40 have been hit by an arrow 24. Through conventional wiring such as a relay, the signal induced can be made to preclude operation of the scanning circuit and to show up on the target monitor 38 as a miss, thus informing the archer 22 that his last shot has been misdirected. The details of the scanning circuit may be had by reference to the above-identified application of Rockwood et al. This feature is necessary as the deflector walls 40 are arranged to deflect the arrow into the backstop 28 past the scanning mechanism and such a shot would show up as a score unless the fact that it has previously hit the deflector 40 is somehow indicated to the archer 22.

To enable the archer 22 to be constantly aware of his score with each arrow shot, a target monitor 38 is arranged in close proximity to the archer as seen in FIG. 1. By means of a mechanism described below, the target monitor 38 indicates to the archer where his last arrow has hit the target. To feed appropriate signals to the target monitor 38 to indicate the location of the arrows corresponding to the hits on the target 26, the invention provides a scanning mechanism generally designated 25 located ahead of the target 26. As shown more clearly in FIGS. 4 and 5, this scanning mechanism comprises a pair of systems, each system being identical with the other, wherein one system determines one angular coordinate of the position of the arrow within a flight path and the other system determines another angular coordinate of the position of the arrow within the flight path. The two systems include motors 70 and 71, scanning drums 74 and 75, mirrors 86 and 87 and photocells 90, 91, 94, 95, 98 and 99 and the details of construction and mode of operation may be fully ascertained by reference to the aboveidentified Rockwood et al. application.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that a selfejecting backstop made according to the invention is highly useful in automated archery ranges by facilitating automatic return of shot arrows while minimizing the possibility of damage thereto and by temporarily holding arrows in the target so that their relation to the, target may be directly observed by an archer.

Having described a specific embodiment of our invention, we do not wish to be limited to the details set forth, but rather, to have our invention construed broadly according to the true spirit thereof as set forth in the following claims.

We claim:

1. A self-ejecting backstop for an archery range including generally vertically arranged penetrable means for receiving and holding an arrow fired thereat and having a front side and a rear side, said penetrable means being constructed and arranged to loosely hold an arrow under the influence of gravity; stopping means associated with said rear side for stopping arrows penetrating said penetrable means whereby the arrows will be held by said penetrable means; means for ejecting arrows held by the penetrable means through the front side thereof and comprising rigid means behind said rear side uniformly movable towards said front side for engaging arrows held loosely by said penetrable means to impart motion thereto to cause the same to slide out of said penetrable means; and means mounting said rigid means for a uniform movement towards said front side.

2. The self-ejecting backstop of claim 1 wherein said penetrable means comprise a pair of spaced grids.

3. The self-ejecting backstop of claim 1 wherein said ejecting means comprise means for moving said stopping means toward said front side to cause the stopping means to engage arrows held by said penetrable means and impart motion thereto to eject the arrows from the penetrable means.

4. A self-ejecting backstop for an archery target comprising: generally vertically arranged means penetrable by an arrow for loosely retaining an arrow under the influence of gravity, rigid means generally parallel to said penetrable means for stopping an arrow penetrating said penetrable means before complete passage therethrough, and means for uniformly moving said stopping means toward said penetrable means for slidably ejecting an arrow retained therein whereby the arrow is ejected from the backstop without being damaged.

5. The self-ejecting backstop of claim 4 wherein said stopping means is mounted for reciprocal motion toward and away from said penetrable means and said moving means comprises a rotary motor, a rotary motion to reciprocating motion converting linkage interconnecting said motor and said stopping means, and control means.

6. The self-ejecting backstop of claim 5 wherein said motor is a one revolution motor.

7. A target backstop arrangement comprising: a first and second parallel grids having apertures therein of a size such as to loosely accommodate the shaft of an arrow; the surface area of the apertures in the plane of the grids constituting a high percentage of the surface area of said grids; said first grid being mounted ahead of said second grid; a solid member formed of a material of suflicient hardness and thickness to stop the flight of an arrow without penetration thereof mounted generally parallel to and behind said second grid, means mounting said solid member for movement toward and away from said grids, and means for moving said solid member toward and away from said grids; said first grid and said solid member being arranged such that the distance between said first grid and said solid member in its position away from said grids is less than the distance from the point of an arrow to its fletched portion, whereby a fired arrow entering said grids will be stopped by said solid member, and upon movement of said solid member toward said grids will be slidably ejected therefrom without damage to the arrow.

8. The backstop of claim 7 further including means for moving said solid member toward said grids and including a rotary motor having an eccentric output shaft, a rearwardly projecting plate on said solid member and having a vertical slot receiving said output shaft.

9. The backstop of claim 7 wherein said mounting means comprise a plurality of spaced rails and roller means secured to said solid member and in engagement with said rails.

7 8 10. The backstop of claim 7 further including means 3,329,432 7/1967 Pratt 273103 providing target markings adjacent said first grid. 3,367,660 7/1'964 Di Maggio.

3,398,959 8/1968 Sanzare 273-103 X References Cited FOREIGN PATENTS UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 613,190 11/1960 Italy. 225,734 3/1880 Tangeman 273102.4 X 1602441 10/1926 Manery' M. R. PAGE, Assistant Examiner 2,193,727 3/1940 Jouffray. 2,770,460 1,1956 Deasy. ANTON O. OECHSLE, Primary Examiner 

